The connection may used to hold or latch and disconnect or unlatch. Various types of canted coil springs, such as radial, axial, or turn angle springs may be used depending on the characteristics desired for a particular application.
Axial springs may be RF with coils canting clockwise or F with coils canting counterclockwise, and installed or mounted with a front angle in front or in back relative to a direction of piston travel in an insertion movement. The springs can be mounted in various manners in a groove in either the piston or the housing. While the spring is generally mounted in a round piston or a round housing, the canted coil spring is capable of being utilized in non-circular applications such as elliptical, square, rectangular, or lengthwise grooves.
Various applications require differing force and force ratios for the initial insertion force, the running force, and the force required to latch and disconnect mating parts. The force, the degree of constraint of the spring, the spring design, the materials used, and the ability of the spring and housing combination to apply a scraping motion to remove oxides that may form on mating parts have been found in accordance with the present invention to determine the electrical performance of the connector. Electrical performance means the resistivity and the resistivity variability of the mated parts.